Browns RB coach shares bold Nick Chubb take

Cleveland Browns running backs coach Stump Mitchell isn't shy about setting sky-high expectations for star ball-carrier Nick Chubb ahead of the 2023 season.

"I don’t mind nitpicking Nick at all," Mitchell said about Chubb during an appearance on "The Dawgs" podcast, per Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. "Nick will probably go all year, and he will probably have about, I would say 15 runs where he probably could have pressed the run track a little bit more. And if we can improve upon that, I think he can probably lead the league in rushing, even though those guys may have 100 more carries than he will, it doesn’t matter." 

Chubb is a four-time Pro Bowl selection but has never led the NFL in rushing since he entered the league as a second-round draft pick in 2018. According to ESPN stats, the 27-year-old finished the 2022 regular season third among all players with 1,525 rushing yards and 302 carries. He was tied for fifth with 12 rushing touchdowns. 

For a piece published by ESPN this past Friday, NFL "executives, coaches, scouts and players" ranked Chubb the No. 1 running back in the league. That piece mentioned that Chubb's career average of 5.2 yards per rush is the second-best mark for that category in NFL history among players with a minimum of 1,000 rushing attempts. 

"If we can improve upon that, he can still lead the league in rushing because he’s averaging over 5.2 yards a carry," Mitchell continued about Chubb. "If we can improve upon that, he can average maybe six yards a carry and he can lead the league in rushing. When I nitpick Nick, he understands there’s big yardage that he left on the field."

Perhaps the most worrisome Chubb stat from last season is that he failed to tally a single rushing touchdown after quarterback Deshaun Watson returned from his 11-game suspension related to allegations of sexual misconduct during massage sessions. Assuming that proves to be nothing more than a fluke, Chubb making life easier for Watson this fall could help the Browns return to the playoffs after they missed the postseason the past two campaigns.